Page 4 of The Mission

Hedidsurprise Mark but he surprised himself more when he saw Mark hammering his cock into a young guy who, at a single glance, looked vaguely familiar. Not just that, but Mark was saying, “I love you,” over and over again. Yes, he was probably on the point of coming, but those words had never been said to Conrad.

He didn’t linger. He backed out of the bedroom before he was spotted, his heart hammering in his chest, his lungs so tight that breathing was becoming increasingly difficult.

There would be no eighth chance.

This was it. The straw that broke this particularly mentally deficient camel’s back. It wasn’t even so much the infidelity, but hearing Mark saying words he’d always laughingly claimedAren’t in my vocabulary, babethat finally knocked sense into Conrad’s skull. He picked up his overnight bag from where he’d left it just inside the front door and walked out, quietly closing the door behind him. He’d come and get his stuff at a later date. Not that there was much of it. A lot had been vetoed by Mark. Now he’d have to buy it all over again.

Conrad wasn’t sure why he headed for work. Probably because everyone would have gone home and his office was his safe space. He was good at his job. Respected. Admired. Praised. Nothing he’d ever had from Mark. Though Conrad was a different person at work.

As he walked away, he wondered if he should have confronted the two of them? But what would that have achieved? Mark would have found a way to blame Conrad, say he was crap in bed, or never did what he wanted and no wonder he’d had to look elsewhere…I don’t need to hear any of that.

This was the night he changed.

He held himself together until he was sitting behind his desk. Then he cried. There were a lot of tears, a box of tissues used, but that was okay because no one could see what a pathetic mess he was. And this really was the last time he’d let Mark hurt him.

Never again. That was the promise he made to himself.

“He’s crying,” Arlo whispered.

His brother muttered under his breath, then said, “It has nothing to do with you. Stop staring at him.”

“But he’s upset.”

“And it has nothing to do with you. Perhaps his mother’s died or his father or his dog. He’s having a quiet weep on his own. Leave him in peace.”

Arlo didn’t like to see people upset. He was a sucker for a sob story. Even when it had been proved to him that the guy who’d told him he’d been robbed and had no money to get home, had said the same thing to someone else a few minutes after Arlo had given him twenty quid, it made no difference. Not everyone was a liar. This guy was so sad.

“No,” his brother said.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You’re thinking about it.”

True. Arlo desperately wanted to go and ask what was wrong. The guy couldn’t see him, Arlo was sitting in the dark, but he had a good view of the man in the office down the glass corridor. Well, he did when the guy hadn’t got his head in his hands. Dark hair, long eyelashes. He looked…devastated.

“What’s his name?” Arlo asked.

His brother snorted from behind his laptop. “I’m not telling you.”

Arlo whined.

“You think that will make me change my mind? I’ll be finished in a minute and we can leave him in peace.”

“He won’t be in peace, will he?” Arlo couldn’t stop looking. He felt bad, knew he shouldn’t be watching but he was incapable of stopping. He also had no idea why it hurt him so much to see a stranger crying, but it did. Tears trickled down Arlo’s cheeks and he rubbed his sleeve across his face before his brother noticed.

“Oh God, Arlo! Stop it. He’s not another of your lame ducks.”

Why not?It wasn’t wrong to want to help people. To be fair, it had mostly been animals Arlo had helped but he liked people to be happy.

“I want to know why he’s crying.”

“Stop being so nosy.”

Had he found out he was ill, seriously ill? Maybe he just needed a hug. Arlo could do that. Was he stressed about his job? Made a mistake he didn’t know how to put right? Why else would he have come to work? Arlo turned to his brother. “Have you upset him?”

“What? No. He’s…”

“What?”

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